Kneecap’s Streams Nearly Double Following ‘Free Palestine’ Comments at Coachella

Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip. 

This week: Coachella gains carry over for Kneecap after the group makes headlines for its onstage Palestine comments, Lorde’s promotion of her new song inadvertently offers some extra momentum to an old deep cut of hers, and much more.

Kneecap’s Coachella Controversy Results in Weekly Streams Nearly Doubling

Along with top-billed acts like Lady Gaga and Charli xcx, Kneecap produced a slew of headlines following their Coachella performances earlier this month, as the Northern Irish rap trio advocated for Palestine and condemned the ongoing violence in Gaza. Kneecap’s onstage remarks resulted in multiple rounds of backlash, as the U.K. government condemned the group, Kneecap alleged a “smear campaign,” and the trio parted ways with its booking agency. Recently, old footage resurfaced in which the group appeared to show support for Hamas and Hezbollah; earlier this week, Kneecap released a statement saying that the members “do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah.”

Yet the controversy has also resulted in the group’s weekly U.S. streams nearly doubling. In the week prior to the first weekend of Coachella (Apr. 4-10), Kneecap’s U.S. on-demand streams totaled 431,000 across its catalog; two weeks later, that number reached 852,000 streams, a 97% increase, according to Luminate. Interestingly, those streams have continued to rise post-Coachella, as the discourse around the group’s comments has persisted more than a week after the festival’s final weekend concluded. – JASON LIPSHUTZ

Lorde’s ‘Ribs’ Proves Sticky After Washington Square Singalong

One of the most-anticipated pop comebacks of 2025 kicked off in earnest last week, with the Thursday (Apr. 24) debut of Lorde’s new single, “What Was That.” The song, which was first introduced to fans via a semi-secret meetup in New York’s Washington Square Park the night before, has gotten off to a dynamite start on streaming – topping the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA chart for Friday and amassing 6.7 million total U.S. on-demand audio streams for the first four days of this tracking week (Apr. 25-28), according to Luminate. But another, much older Lorde song has also been rising on streaming the past week: 2013’s “Ribs.” 

The decade-old deep cut, from Lorde’s debut album Pure Heroine, received a new bump in exposure from the aforementioned Washington Square Park meetup, where delays in the artist’s arrival led to the fans in attendance dancing and singing along to the aforementioned fan favorite as they waited. After clips of the singalong went viral online, the song’s streaming spiked 69% – from just over 2 million during the five-day period before the event (Apr. 19-23) to over 3.4 million the five days after (Apr. 25-28). 

Despite being one of her best-performing songs on streaming for most of the past decade, “Ribs” has never reached the Billboard Hot 100 – so if the song’s numbers continue to rise, Lorde could have a pair of debuts coming her way on the chart real soon. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

It’s Chuckyy’s ‘World,’ And We’re Just Living In It 

Fast-rising Chicago MC and Lil Durk protégé Chuckyy is eyeing his biggest hit yet – and the song’s only been out for less than a week. 

Released on April 24, “My World” arrived after a TikTok fanpage championing the rapper’s unreleased material (@chuckyyunreleased) shared a snippet of the song on April 2. That initial post has earned over 728,000 views and nearly 75,000 likes. Between the song’s similarity to Lucki’s music, its sample of Ekkstacy’s “I Walk This Earth All By Myself,” Chuckyy’s Durk co-sign and lyrics like, “Super slime, I can’t trust nothin’, that’s why I’m rockin’ this Chrome,” the “My World” snippet quickly went viral. 

Presently, the TikTok sound attached to that snippet boasts nearly 50,000 posts, while the official “My World” TikTok sound plays in over 10,000 additional clips. Many users frequently use the aforementioned lyrics to emphasize captions that recount the urge to shy away from vulnerability. 

According to Luminate, “My World” debuted with over 745,000 U.S. on-demand audio streams in its first full day of release (April 25). Streams remained stable throughout the weekend, never dipping below 675,000 streams, and (so far) peaking with nearly 855,000 official on-demand streams on Monday (April 28). 

Though Chuckyy has yet to hit the Billboard charts, “My World” could have him making them part of his domain in no time. – KYLE DENIS

Viral Dance Challenge Revives 19-Year-Old Rasheeda Single 

ATL rapper Rasheeda hasn’t dropped an album in over 10 years, and is probably more known to Gen Z for her decade-long stint on Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta. But that doesn’t mean a catchy song still can’t cut through. 

Aided by a viral dance challenge created by TikTok user @yinyangelina on March 31, “My Bubblegum,” the second single from Rasheeda’s 2006 GA Peach LP, is experiencing a streaming revival. Angelina’s original post of her dance has since amassed over 2.3 million likes and 15.6 million views. 

Over the weekend of March 28-April 3, “Bubblegum” (also titled “Got That Good (My Bubble Gum)” on certain platforms) earned just under 590,000 official on-demand U.S. streams. During the week of April 4-10 – the first full week of the dance trend – that number rose 27% to over 750,000 official on-demand streams. By the following week (April 11-17), streaming activity for “Bubblegum” jumped by 51%, helping the song cross over one million official on-demand streams for the first time. During April 18-24, “Bubblegum” continued its ascent, clocking over 1.45 million official on-demand streams, making for a 146% overall increase in streaming activity over the past three weeks, all according to Luminate. 

Back in 2007, “Bubblegum” became Rasheeda’s highest-charting entry on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (No. 55) – and nearly 20 years later, it’s already returning to the Billboard charts: So far, the song has returned to R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales (No. 4), Rap Digital Song Sales (No. 4) and the all-genre Digital Song Sales ranking (No. 19). — K.D.